Nest Aware – What is it and what is it for?

March 12, 2021

Nest Aware is the subscription service for Google Nest. The brand offers a number of products in its portfolio. From the Nest Hello video doorbell to the health home camera smart health connected to Nest Cam IQ. As well as Google Assistant speakers and screens; including the Nest Hub Max, Nest Mini, and Nest Audio.

Nest Aware will unlock some of the best features available on select Nest devices. If you’ve been wondering what Nest Aware is, what it offers, and how much it costs, you’ve come to the right place!

What does Nest Aware do?

Nest Aware takes advantage of the connectivity of Nest Cam IQ, Nest Hello, Nest Cam Outdoor, Nest Cam Outdoor IQ, and Nest Hub Max to add a host of features.

You don’t need to use Nest Aware with Nest cameras, the video doorbell, or the Nest Hub Max. However, like I told you, it adds more control and more options compared to the base configuration.

What do Nest Cam and Nest Hello do without Nest Aware?

As stand-alone devices, Nest Cams and the Nest Hello video doorbell are always smart health connected. This allows you to see remotely, to listen, to send voice commands; as well as receive alerts when movements or sounds are detected.

However, there is no registration. If you don’t pay for Nest Aware, you only receive recorded clips when there’s an alert from another Nest; like the Nest Protect which detects smoke, for example.

Without it, Nest Cam and Nest Hello are monitoring devices, with alerts, so you can see what’s going on when you receive them.

What does the Nest Hub Max do without Nest Aware?

The Nest Hub Max is one of two Google Assisted displays offered by Nest. But the smaller Nest Hub doesn’t have a camera. It doesn’t require the Nest Aware for additional functionality.

The Nest Hub Max does have a camera, though, and it’s essentially a Nest Cam, although it doesn’t have night vision.

Without the subscription, the Nest Hub Max lets you control your smart health home devices, listen to music, watch Netflix, and ask Google Assistant for whatever you want, just like you can with the Nest Hub. .

The Nest Hub Max’s camera also lets you drop by and see what’s going on live in the room where your Nest Hub Max is. You’ll also be able to see the last three hours of activity in the Nest app if you’ve set it up, and receive alerts when activity is detected. However, streaming video and smart alerts come with the Nest Aware subscription.

Nest Aware Features and Functions

Video History

One of the key things is video history. Some cameras, like Netatmo Welcome, store content locally. By regularly overwriting old content when the camera is full. Nest Cams and Nest Hello don’t do this.

The solution offers a 30 or 60 day event history. The second option also offers a 10-day video history. If you have the standard subscription, you can see 30 days of events. So if there was an alert you can look at your history and see what happened / But the standard subscription does not offer streaming video.

The Nest Aware Plus subscription offers all 60 days of event history as well as 10 days of video history. This means that you can still access the content on your camera, for up to 10 days. Also, you will be able to see what happened whenever an alert occurred within 60 days as well.

Activity zones

It’s a smart feature. If you want to keep an eye on a particular area, you can mark it out. So Nest Aware will alert you if something happens in that area.

For example, you can use the Nest Cam to spy on your kids and with the Nest Aware you can only be alerted when they are going to raid the candy box. Or you can just train the Nest Hello to focus on the cars in front of the house and the garden. Rather than being alerted every time something else happens in your path.

Video clips

It’s not just a matter of security. The Nest Cam and Nest Hello cameras also capture funny things, not funny things, bad things, good things, which you might want to share.

With Nest Aware, you’ll be able to save to your Nest account, as well as share on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, or through emails or messages. Without Nest Aware, you can’t save or share video clips.

Familiar face detection

The Nest Cam IQ, Nest Cam Outdoor IQ, and Nest Hello all offer person detection. But with Nest Aware you can also get familiar face detection. Over time, you teach your Nest Cam or Nest Hello to know who your grandmother is; or your cousin by creating a profile for them in the Nest app.

When your Nest Cam IQ or Nest Hello detects a familiar person, the alert will say, for example, “Grandma is at the front door”; rather than a person is at the front door. If you have a Nest Mini or Nest Audio or older Google health home devices, you can also set up Google Assistant ads for Nest Hello. So your Google health home Mini or Nest Mini can tell you when Grandma is at the front door when the chime goes off.

Big plan

Nest Aware also offers a feature called Close-ups for the Nest Cam and Nest Hello cameras. For each event you’re alerted to, Nest will select a photo and zoom in on the action for you.

How much does Nest Aware cost?

When Nest Aware first launched, it was quite expensive, with users having to pay for each camera. The cost of the monthly subscription could increase quickly if you had multiple Nest cameras.

Nest then streamlined the Nest Aware program options into two subscriptions. The standard subscription costs 5 euros per month or 50 euros per year. The second option, called Nest Aware Plus, costs $ 10 per month or $ 100 per year.

Can I get Nest Aware for free?

Yes, there is a 30 day trial when you buy any of the Nest cameras; including the Nest Hello video doorbell.